Brighton MP to open ethical supermarket

Ethical supermarket Hisbe – it stands for “how it should be” – is due to open to the public on Saturday 7 December. The opening date coincides with Small Business Saturday.

The store, in York Place, London Road, Brighton, will be officially opened by Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion.

The founders, Amy and Ruth Anslow, recently announced that Body Shop founder and fair trade pioneer Gordon Roddick had pledged to support the store with a £20,000 investment.

They said that his announcement last Friday (15 November) brought the total investment in the new supermarket up to £198,000.

The store aims to make good locally sourced and sustainable food more affordable, they said.

Shoppers will be able to see where the food has come from and how much of the price they pay goes to the producer, the store costs, staff wages and as profit.

Amy Anslow said: “We are thrilled and grateful to accept a £20,000 investment from Gordon.

“It means we’ve almost hit our target of £200,000 and can now enter the final stages of the store refit and pay for staff and stock so the store is ready for opening on 7 December.”

Ruth Anslow said: “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks with some delays, budget increases, building hiccups and stress, but we’re back on track with this extra boost from Gordon.

“However, we’re still encouraging people to buy vouchers and invest in this new sustainable shopping approach.

“The more we raise in advance the smoother the first few months of trading will be.”

Other funding has come from grants, private investments, loans and a Buzzbnk crowdfunding campaign which alone generated more than £30,000, making it Buzzbnk’s most successful project in terms of number of supporters.